The investment values the company at around Rs. 94,178 crores, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the situation as saying. This places the four-year-old company into the top ranks of privately held startups.

Snapchat’s latest valuation is a massive increase for a company that Facebook offered to buy in late 2013 for $3 billion (roughly Rs. 18,835 crores).

Snapchat, which is based in Los Angeles, which allows its more than 100 million users to send messages that disappear in seconds, had sought capital to extend its core service. In January, it began carrying videos and articles from mainstream media outlets such as CNN and ESPN, bringing Snapchat into closer competition with Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc.

Alibaba & Google looking forward to invest in Snapdeal:

Indian e-commerce firm – Snapdeal could get a boost from tech majors in what might turn out to be the first direct investment in the country by Google Inc and Alibaba.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is in talks with Indian online marketplace Snapdeal over a potential cash investment, a person familiar with the negotiations said.

The source, who declined to be named because talks are not public, said on Wednesday that negotiations were “ongoing”. Alibaba is “looking, but there’s still no deal”, the source added.

Alibaba could not be reached immediately for comment, and a Snapdeal representative declined to comment.

Media reports have said Snapdeal is seeking $1 billion in its latest funding round to fuel growth as it competes with bigger rivals Flipkart.com and Amazon.com.